Posts tagged Lauren Bacall

a-sweet-unrest asked: Hey there, could you perhaps give me some good examples of the classic noir femme fatale? Film ones would be best, as I'm thinking about costumes for a heroes vs. villains party.

I am putting this out there as others may have ideas for you.  I think James M. Cain furnishes a couple of the most recognizable femmes fatale: Barbara Stanwyck’ character in Double Indemnity and Lana Turner’s in The Postman Always Rings Twice.  Mary Astor was perhaps the original femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon.  And of course, we can’t leave Lauren Bacall or The Big Sleep off the list.  There’s Rita Hayworth (though not a blonde) in Gilda.  Gloria Grahame is great as femme fatale in either The Big Heat or In a Lonely Place.  

If you’re amenable to neo-noir, that opens up a whole host of other possibilities.  I also invite other readers to share recommendations (note that the poster prefers blonde characters).

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What could be more appropriate today than some hurricane noir?

What could be more appropriate today than some hurricane noir?

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Not a bad film, though I think it’s the weakest of the Bogie/Bacall pictures. UPDATE:  I would rank the four Bogie/Bacall films as follows: Key Largo To Have and Have Not The Big Sleep Dark Passage I think Key Largo and To Have and Have Not are fine films.  The Big Sleep has a damned clever script, but the Hayes Code obliged them to make too many alterations Chandler’s novel, and the ending doesn’t really make sense.  It is a good film, but you should know the original plot, in my humble opinion.  Dark Passage is the only Bogie/Bacall film I found unsatisfying.  I think it is several different films cobbled together, and none of them are developed particularly well.  The ending is rather melodramatic for a noir, and too many plot twists seem random.  The suspense, the darkness, the fatalism are not allowed to build, and the underplayed climax suffers. But that’s my take.  What say you, fellow tumblrs?

Not a bad film, though I think it’s the weakest of the Bogie/Bacall pictures.

UPDATE:  I would rank the four Bogie/Bacall films as follows:

  1. Key Largo
  2. To Have and Have Not
  3. The Big Sleep
  4. Dark Passage

I think Key Largo and To Have and Have Not are fine films.  The Big Sleep has a damned clever script, but the Hayes Code obliged them to make too many alterations Chandler’s novel, and the ending doesn’t really make sense.  It is a good film, but you should know the original plot, in my humble opinion. 

Dark Passage is the only Bogie/Bacall film I found unsatisfying.  I think it is several different films cobbled together, and none of them are developed particularly well.  The ending is rather melodramatic for a noir, and too many plot twists seem random.  The suspense, the darkness, the fatalism are not allowed to build, and the underplayed climax suffers.

But that’s my take.  What say you, fellow tumblrs?

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